Cody Bellinger's Ridiculous Defensive Improvement Will Help Him Capture NL MVP

Cody Bellinger is unequivocally the best hitter in baseball right now, but there's more to him than a hot bat.

The Dodgers outfielder has quietly made massive strides on defense this year that will help him bring home the NL MVP by season's end.

Across more than 870 innings in the outfield between 2017 and 2018, Bellinger managed just three assists. In 355 1/3 innings this year, he's already got seven in the books.

It's not just his arm, either. Bellinger has 12 defensive runs saved in the outfield this season, more than double his career total coming into the year, and just one shy of Lorenzo Cain for the league lead among all position players.

He's making unbelievably good plays and gunning down runners with ruthless efficiency.

Virtually every defensive metric proves just how far he's come as a defender.

His NL-leading 27.2 UZR/150, for example, leaves little doubt that he's blossomed into a top-flight defensive talent.

It also doesn't hurt that he leads the league in runs, hits, runs batted in, batting average, on-base percentage and slugging.

He could insert himself into the MVP conversation on the back of his offensive efforts alone, but the massive progress he's made in the outfield is what will give him the final edge to capture the honor.